It’s Property Tax Preparation Time Again in Nanaimo!

Ron Bolin — August 13, 2010
On July 1 property taxes to the City of Nanaimo for 2010 were due. It is now time to start the process over again for 2011. Put on your thinking caps and start pondering the city’s Financial Plan and anticipated tax increases. Despite the ever declining economy, the increase in unemployment, the stagnant housing market, increasing homelessness, and vigorous growth in the number of folks needing food assistance, property taxes are anticipated to rise for residential homeowners by 5.7% in 2011. I can’t remember hearing a number that high for the increase in anything positive for several years.

To begin this process, at its Finance and Policy Committee of the Whole (FPCOW) meeting on Monday in the City Hall board room at 4:30pm, Council will start by reviewing the 11 Budget Priorities which they set for themselves and Staff for 2010. You may remember that these are:

While I might and I will carp about the all too slippery nature of these priorities, I nevertheless strongly support this concept. At Monday’s FPCOW meeting Council should indicate how it has graded itself in meeting these priorities. This year one hopes for a thorough review of these priorities, which to my mind break down into keeping us healthy (1,5,7,10), wealthy (2,3,6,8,9) and, less productively, perhaps, pre-occupied (4,11). I hope that Council will rethink these priorities with a view to developing programmatic links to them which will allow both themselves and the public to easily identify the success which they have had in meeting them during the budget year. It is certain that a tax increase of the order of 5.7% for homeowners is not warranted in the current economic climate and a vigorous defense of that rate is required.

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8 Comments

Sunny Dan August 14, 2010

As for the 5.7% hike, didn’t they start the process last year with a threat of a 7% hike. Don’t they always start with a very high number, then whittle it down so that they look like heros for winning us a smaller increase. Then we are ever so grateful we voted these people in, because they saved us from such awful rate hikes.

Could I rate their progress on all these items listed?

1. √
2. X (Maybe its still in the draft stage)
3. X (I haven’t seen a lot of green industry out there)
4. X (I’m still waiting for Mayor’s big announcement. Maybe next Friday)
5. √ (Nice work on the Frank Crane Arena. Also, they helped with the bastion restoration and the train station restoration. Kudos to everyone involved)
6. X
7. X (I’m still bitter about Cable Bay and Sandstone, and the OCP. I’m going to give them an “X” on this one next year as well)
8. X (That was a priority? Really?)
9. X (Maybe they are waiting for a proposal, then they’ll be engaged)
10. √ (I do feel safe, but I live in a non-combustable building and I avoid the police)
11. X (I do feel a strong pride of place, but I think that is in spite of anything the city has done)

Three out of eleven is 28%. I guess that means there is a lot more work still to do – thus, the rate hike of 5.7%. What? did you think the last rate hike was going to pay for all this.

I think they left out the real priority, which was to make sure they all got a nice little pay raise.

When I posted the above, I was in a jocular mood. After attending the meeting and listening to the staff presentation to council and then council’s discussion, I’m a lot more sober.

I’m inclined, more then ever, to seriously believe that these people really have only one priority; to make sure they all get a nice little pay raise. All the rest is just bullshit, to make themselves look good while they scam our money.

These priorities require some consideration, because they represent direction to staff and significant chunks of our money. If these directions are weak then staff simply under performs by either spinning wheels or chasing mirage. What I saw last night made me think council gives these priorities no more thought then they would ordering a stack of pizzas. If staff actually delivered on one of this priorities, council would have forgotten what they ordered. What I saw last night made me really mad.

My next post is going to be a list of priorities I think should be adopted. And I’m going to write a letter to the mayor and council. As far as I’m concerned, the kind of crap I saw last night better stop.

Dan has provided a succinct summary of Nanaimo City’s priority list.Good water & sewer services and public safety? No kidding,what a novel idea.Taxpayers in any city,anywhere,are happy to pay for these critical and fundamental services.
The majority of the balance of the list is feel-good statements to try to dupe the public into thinking the City is actively working positively on the issues when in fact the opposite is generally the case.As Dan says,the list IS just bullshit.Just imagine any list of City priorities that places public safety at No.11,far below that of securing a hotel to be, in no small part, secured by giving away publicly owned assets and resources.Only in Nanaimo and only by this Council and Staff.God help us please.

Dan, I accept that anyone not frustrated and angered by how City Hall does and doesn’t conduct the public’s business just isn’t paying enough attention. I keep asking myself though — what’s beyond the anger and frustration. Not that I’ve figured it out but I’m working on it. In Frances Bula’s blog policy she talks about partisan hacks and I thought gawd it would be nice to have some partisan hacks here wouldn’t it… it’s just not a politicized place, no activism and common ground found in issues like neighbourhoods being bulldozed or whatever… I think it’s true that the issues are out there: HST currently and the FPN led petition against the annexation of Cedar acreage to accommodate the Cable Bay development… How to get it all to coalesce so as to really threaten the complacency of these politicians and senior City management?

On what Ron refers to a “the all too slippery nature of these priorities” — the dismantling of Plan Nanaimo and it’s sound guidelines to be replaced with syrupy homilies was it seemed to me primarily the work of Councillor Holdom and his influence I suspect is in evidence here. I’ve always assumed that he was a front man for the Korpan/Berry manipulative approach that’s led to a lot of the problems we face today. The culture and this management approach are still in place — no surprise I guess when you consider how long some of these folks have been gathering dust in those comfy big chairs!

Because I don’t like to criticize without providing an alternative that I think is better, I would like to propose a new list of priorities to be considered for next year.

1. Public health and safety and the protection of property. This would include the most effective means to deliver essential services such as water and sanitation, and protection by police and firefighters. Also, it would include consideration for delivering special services to the sick and the poor.

2. Increase the commonwealth. All decisions are to be tested so insure the result will be an increase in productivity, a decrease in consumption and elimination of waste. This would include all planning decisions, to insure that all changes to land use will result in an overall improvement to the economy, and the environment.

The net result of these two priorities should be a city that is easier to live in. If these priorities would be maintained over a number of years then we wouldn’t be discussing in August a tax increase. We would be talking about the amount of tax decrease.

I should add; within these two priorities it is possible to list a number of specific projects. But the projects must describe specific actions to be taken by the city, and they must be listed with a realistic cost that can be included in the budget. These specific actions must be crossed off the list within the year.

Dan: I believe that your list of two priorities has covered the waterfront, so to speak. I would add that each and every item in the budget should be weighed in the light of these priorities each year, though I would not abandon any action just because it couldn’t be crossed off in a year. Some time ago I suggested that the city undertake a zero based budget which would begin such a process. To date the idea has been ignored.